Steam-cooker.



R. E.WHITE.

STEAM COOKER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1910.

1,007,999, Patented 1\1ov.7, 1911.

,jjq'fiij F 2 5y I 1 JV I 27 ji l W174 Attorneys Witnesses Inventor BAYE. WHITE, OF CHARLOTTE, MICHIGAN.

STEAM-COOKER.

ooneoo.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 18, 1910.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

Serial No. 593,104.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RAY E. WHITE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Charlotte, in the county of Eaton and State of Michigan,have invented a new and useful Steam-Cooker, of which the following is aspecification.

It is one object of this invention to provide a cooker which will supplysteam rapidly to the cooking chamber.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for regulatingand controlling the fiow of water to the chamber in which the steam isgenerated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cooker, the body ofwhich is adapted for the ready and convenient reception of the food tobe cooked, and likewise adapted for the rapid generation of steam andthe delivery of the steam to that portion of the body in which the foodis immediately contained.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made with in the scopeof what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a perspective; and Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section, wherein sundry details appear in elevation.

In carrying out the invention, a hollow base 1 is provided, the top ofwhich slopes downwardly toward the periphery of the base, as shown at35. Fixed to the portion 35 of the base 1, and rising above the same, isa tubular neck 2, terminating at its upper end in a funnel 9, providedwith a perforated top 4. The funnel 9 is provided with a peripheraltrough 10, terminating in an upstanding flange 11, rising above theplane of the perforated top 4.

There is an upstanding annular rib 5 upon the top 4, this rib 5 beingadapted to retain in place, the inner receptacle 6 which incloses therib 5. If desired, the inner receptacle 6 may carry a handle 29 at itstop, whereby the receptacle 6 may be manipulated. Fixed to and risingfrom the perforated top 4, is a pedestal 7, carrying spaced shelves 8,upon which the food which is to be cooked or heated, is placed when thedevice is in operation.

The invention further includes an outer receptacle 13, inclosing, butspaced from, the inner receptacle 6. The lower end of the outerreceptacle 13 rests in the trough 10, and is embedded in a packing 12,ordinarily of asbestos, this packing being retained be tween the flange11 and the wall of the outer receptacle 13. The outer receptacle 13 isclosed at its upper end by a. lid 14. If desired, the outer receptacle13 may be equipped with a door 27 hinged at 28, the inner receptacle 6being similarly equipped, as shown at 30.

The invention further includes a tank 15, preferably although notnecessarily, supported by the flange 11. The height of the water whichis in the tank 15 may be indi cated by the gage glass 16. The top of thetank 15 is provided with an inwardly extended neck 32, having a conicalseat, adapted to receive the conical head 34 of a plug 17, the lower endof the plug being threaded into the neck 32, as clearly seen in Fig. 2.In the neck 32 there are vents 33, and when the head 34 of the plug 17is firmly seated in the neck 32, these vents 33 will be closed, the plug17 however, being rotatable, to open the vents 33, as Fig. 2 willclearly show. The water supply pipe 18, threaded into the plug 17, orotherwise secured thereto, has a cut-off cock 41.

A pipe 19 forms a communication between the hollow base 1 and theinterior of the tank 15, the pipe 19 terminating adjacent the bottom ofthe tank. In the pipe 19, there is a valve 21, controlled by a fingerpiece 23 or the like. Another pipe 20 forms a com munication between thehollow base 1 and the tank 15. This pipe 20 enters the base 1 at a pointslightly above the inlet end of the pipe 19. Moreover, as clearly seenin Fig. 2, and there denoted by the numeral 31, the end of the pipe 20is carried upwardly through the bottom of the tank 15, to a pointadjacent the top of the tank. The pipe 20 is equipped with the valvemechanism 22, 24, hereinbefore mentioned in connection with the pipe 19.

In practical operation, the material which is to be heated or cooked, isplaced upon the shelves 8, the material being introduced within theinner receptacle 6, either through the doors 27 and 30, or by removingthe lid 14 and lifting the inner receptacle 6 out of the outerreceptacle 13. The finger pieces" 23 and 24 are manipulated so as toclose the pipes 19 and 20, and the plug 17 is rotated slightly, so as touncover the vents 33. The water may then be permitted to enter the tank15 through the pipe 18, the air passing outwardly through the vents 33,the tank 15 being filled partially, to a point slightly below the upperend of the portion 31 of the pipe 20, whereupon the cut-off cock 41 isclosed, hermetically sealing the upper part of the tank. The plug 17 isthen rotated,-

so as to close the vents 33, thereby sealing the tank 15. If the fingerpieces 23 and 24; be now maniplated, to open the pipes 19 and 20,respectively, the water will flow through the pipe 19 and fill thehollow base 1 to a point approximating the line 26; that is, until theends of the pipes 19 and 20 are covered. At this level, the water in thehollow base 1 will remain, until, through evaporation, the level of thewater in the hollow base 1 is lowered below the end of the pipe 20. Insuch case, air will pass into the tank 15 through the pipe 20,permitting more water to flow through the pipe 19 into the hollow base1, until the ends of the pipes 19 and 20 are covered. The hollow base 1is placed over a source of heat, and the water which is within the basewill be converted rapidly into steam, the steam rising through thetubular neck 2, and through the perforated top 4: of the funnel, intothe interior of the inner receptacle 6, thereby cooking or warming foodwhich is upon the shelves 8.

It will be seen that but a small quantity of water at a time is admittedinto the base 1, the water in the base 1 being, therefore, rapidlyconverted into steam. The inclined portion 35 of the base serves todirect the steam upwardly into the neck 2, and thence into the interiorof the inner receptacle 6.

The hollow, frusto-conical base 1 constitutes the boiler proper, inwhich the water is evaporated, and the space within the inner receptacle6 constitutes a steam chamber about the boiler. The perforated top 1 ofthe funnel acts as a distributing plate for properly dispersing thesteam within the inner receptacle 6.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is A device of theclass described comprising a boiler and a steam chamber above theboiler; a liquid supply tank; pipes entering the boiler at difierentheights, the upper pipe opening into the tank adjacent the top of thetank, and the lower pipe opening into the tank adjacent the bottom ofthe tank; means for admitting liquid in predetermined quantities intothe tank; and means for controlling the flow of the liquid through thepipes.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

RAY E. 'WHITE.

WVitnesses BERTHA A. NICHOLS, MARY E. VVoRDnN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

